Armaggedon
by Rurouni Tyriel
Summary: The final day of the Time War, and the end of Gallifrey. The story of how ordinary people fought against a terrible enemy to save all of Time and Space.


**Disclaimer: **

I don't own the Doctor Who, and for once I'm glad of the fact. No way I could do it justice the way Russel T. Davis, John Nathan-Turner, and various others have done. I'd've mucked it up before season two.

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**Summary: **

The Time War. A glimpse into the devastation that ravaged Gallifrey and Skaro and reshaped the Universe as we know it. Takes place long after the events of 'Enemy Within,' (the 1996 Movie), and prior to 'Rose.' Rated PG-13 just to be on the safe side, for action violence and terror. Ignores Book Continuity (but does borrow some tidbits).

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_"We foresee a time, when they will have destroyed all other life-forms and become the dominant creature in the universe. We'd like you to go back to a point in history before the Daleks evolved." _

_- Celestial Intervention Agent_

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_"The Daleks shall sweep away Gallifrey! And it's impotent corium of Time Lords!" _

_- Davros, Creator of the Daleks _

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The skies of Gallifrey burned orange with the light of the twin suns, but now the orange glow had faded as darkness had settled over the Shining World of the Seven Systems. Not the darkness of nightfall. The darkness of war. The darkness of the fleet that descended like locusts onto the rich, verdant fields of red grass and onwards towards the citadel of the Time Lords.

The darkness that was the Daleks.

The disc-shaped golden ships of the Dalek fleet broken orbit and immediately began to open fire, blasting away at anything that was deemed a threat, even as several ships dropped lower in the sky, wheeling in precise patterns as dictated by the Daleks battle computers. The ships dropped low to the surface and their sides opened up. From within, Daleks began to pour out. Hundreds of them. Thousands of them. Millions of Daleks took the skies, screaming their battle cries. Brilliant cerulean energy split the skies like lightning as the Daleks reached the citadel and shattered the dome, letting glass rain down on it's inhabitants. Time Lords and Ladies ran screaming at the onslaught. But there was no where to run anymore. There was no where to hide. Their enemy could not be reasoned with or negotiated with.

Only fought.

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On the street level, the war-cries of the Daleks was met by a howl of defiance as the Citadel's guards charged to meet them. Staser-fire split the air, but the Daleks shrugged off the majority of the attacks as if it was little more than rainwater, the energy dissipating against their shiny golden armor. Guards were cut down by the dozens as Dalek energy cackled across the cityscape, red uniforms shining like blood as bodies hit the floor. And still the Dalek legions pressed onwards. Here and there, however, their efforts turned back the Dalek tide. A few concentrated their fire, blinding one Dalek, who spun in place, stray shots taking out his own comrades.

Another was taken out by a surprising source. Lured down into an alleyway and away from his comrades, the Dalek encountered a Time Lord family, non-combatants. A female and two offspring. Any other foe might have hesitated, even for a moment, out of compassion. Not so a Dalek.

"EX-TER-MIN-ATE!"

"Exterminate this, monster!" shouted a voice behind the Dalek. As its eye spun 'round, a black spear flew through the air. So true was the shot, so strong the metal, that it pierced the dalekanium hide and into the repulsive little monster inside the very heart of the Dalek. It's lights dimmed and then flickered out. It was quite dead. The spear had been forged by Rassilon himself, millennia ago, as a weapon against the Great Vampires. For centuries it had been forgotten or ignored, a relic of the Old Times. Now it was yet again drenched in the blood of Gallifrey's enemies.

The woman who had thrown the spear stepped forward to reclaim it, wrenching it free from the Dalek once she was certain it was dead. Like the weapon, she too was out of place on the battlefield. Not even a Time Lady, she was human, a woman of indeterminate age with a fierce expression and bright blue eyes. A mane of brown hair descended to her shoulders, and unlike the well-dressed citizens of the Citadel, she was dressed in animal skins. Skins of animals she'd hunted herself.

Leela of the Seva'teem.

Placing her spear aside, she reached out a hand to the citizens. "Come with me," she said. "We're rallying at the Panoptican. Quickly now!" she said, seeing the woman hesitate, her children terrified. "Move!"

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High up in the Panoptican, a mess of cluttering equipment and technology surrounded one lone renegade Time Lord. Aware of his perilous lack of the time (and isn't that ironic, he mused) the Doctor was worked at a feverish pace, his sonic screwdriver buzzing with activity as he connected _this_ to _that_, and set up _this_ to work alongside _that_. He wasn't even completely sure he knew what he was doing, but he had to try, and if nothing else, he had a little jiggery-pokery he would slap together and pray would work. It hadn't failed him in the past, at least.

Ah well, first time for anything, he thought with a grimace, then quickly turned back to his work. He didn't have much time to finish. He only hoped this would work.

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In the lower levels of the Time Lord Citadel, down near data storage and he archives, the Daleks had already penetrated the defense of the Citadel with a small squadron of their deadliest forces. There, they were proceeding to exterminate the archivists as they moved their way deeper into the Citadel. Anyone in their way was to be destroyed before communication reached the Time Lord defenses and an effective counter-attack could be mounted. However, they soon met an unexpected resistance as they burst down one of the doors to an adjoining room and made their customary introductions.

"EX-TER-MIIIIEEE!!!!"

The lead Dalek was practically bowled over by what could have only been described as an enormous mouse, a creature that did not exist on Gallifrey (at least, not according to the Daleks information files). So huge was the monstrosity it tore the Daleks eye-piece clear off with it's oversized canines and roared as it charged forward, swatting the tin-plated conquerers of the universe as if they were little more than toys.

Behind it and a number of other gigantic white mice just like it, a blonde woman stood, arms crossed, smirking playfully. "And the old President said my experiments would never amount to anything worthwhile," she noted smugly, pleased she'd chosen to (yet again) disobey her superior and pursue her own research.

If she hadn't, then the Rani might've been exterminated with the rest of Gallifrey's population of foolish Time Lords. As it was, she'd fulfilled her bargain, and now she was equally free to pursue her own interests. Being set free by the Time Lords didn't mean she was obliged to stick around and die for them. Palming a staser she'd "liberated" from a guard many weeks earlier, she made her way out of her laboratory, smiling as she saw her pets tearing through the Daleks again, and turned down another corridor to make her escape...

... a Dalek came into view...

... she gasped, and the Dalek swung 'round, weapon aimed even as she brought up her staser.

She pulled the trigger...

"EX-TER-MIN-ATE!"

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"This isn't what we agreed on!" shouted the Master, clutching at the viewscreen in his own hands, his knuckles turning white as his hair. "You agreed the Citadel would be spared! You agreed -I- would be spared!"

"DALEKS DO NOT MAKE PROMISES TO INFERIOR CREATURES!" replied the Dalek Emperor over their private channel. "YOUR INFORMATION WAS INVALUABLE, MASTER. BUT YOUR USEFULLNESS HAS COME TO AN END. LIKE ALL THE OTHERS... YOU... WIILL... BE... EX-!"

The Master lashed out with a hand, shattering the glass of the viewscreen and terminating communications. He was shaking from head to toe. They couldn't do this. He'd done everything for them. Lowered the induction barrier, provided blueprints and plans and staser schematics. He'd given the Daleks everything, and asked only to share in their victory. And they'd betrayed him.

And they were coming, he realized. Nothing could stop them now.

"Nothing can stop them. Nothing."

Terrified, the Master broke into a run, pushing open the door and bolting down a corridor. He had to escape. He had to get away. That was always his plan, wasn't it? Survive. Escape. Come back and win another day. But survive first. But even as his feet pounded, he ran through his list of options, and it was terribly short. Where could he run to? If the Daleks became masters of time and space, they could hunt him down anywhere. Anywhen. They'd annihilate any trace of the Time Lords anywhere in existence.

He skidded almost to a halt. No, there was one place he might be able to hide. He turned and quickly shot off in another direction, towards the TARDIS docking bays. It was likely to be empty, but if he was right...

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"Captain, we need reinforcements!" crackled a voice across the intercom system.

About to reply, Andred took the time to get a shot off, blowing a Dalek's eyepiece to bits before he slapped the communicator on his wrist "Troops are already tied up everywhere!" he yelled into it. "We haven't anyone left to spare!"

"We can't hold them! We can't- AAuuuugh!" came the reply, and then it was cut off.

Cursing under his breath, Andred vaulted himself over the body of one of his comrades and behind a pillar, using it as cover as he kept fire up on the advancing Daleks. Only six of them so far, and two already down. His small group looked like they would hold this hallway and keep them back for a little while.

He slapped his comm. badge again. "Doctor! You don't have much time left!"

There wasn't a reply. He wasn't expecting one. The Doctor had to be very, very busy at this juncture. So he had to give him all the time he could. "Press the attack!" he shouted over the fire of Daleks and Time Lords. "Keep them out as long as you can!"

"For Gallifrey!" one of the younger soldiers shouted.

"Aye, for Gallifrey!" he agreed. And he opened fire. For a while, it looked like they might hold them off.

A very, very short while, unfortunately.

The Dalek ranks parted, smoothly sliding to either side of the entryway, and from between them emerged a new horror. If the average Dalek was a loaded weapon, then this was war machine. A heavy combat Dalek with only a single great cannon sprouting from the top of it's heavy armored dome, and covered in thick, multiple layers of dalekanium. Even if a shot penetrated it's shields, it was doubtful it would do much damage to the Dalek.

The Time Lords, on the other hand.

"EX-TER-MIN-ATE!!"

Andred caught sight of a brilliant bolt of cerulean tear free from the heavy combat Dalek's cannon, and knew no more. There had not even been time to scream.

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The Dalek advance was relentless. Room by room, section by section, they began to cut off the Time Lord Citadel from aid, outside or inside, exterminating anyone they came across. Soldier or civilian, technitian or combatant, they were all inferior in the eyes of the Daleks. And to a Dalek, anything inferior had but one fate: death.

Romanadvoratrelundar, more commonly addressed as Romana to save time, stared at the computer console, shivering from head to toe. She knew coming back to Gallifrey to aid during the Time War would be dangerous, but she had no idea to expect this sort of sheer carnage from the Daleks, even having personally known what they were capable of from her own experiences. Nor was she the only one. The Lady President had sent out summons to all Time Lords throughout the Galaxy, inviting back renegades, pardoning criminals, all to get the resources they needed to fight against them.

But in the end, it might not even be enough.

"Only the Doctor can save us now," she said, as she watched the Daleks progress on the monitor.

The other two women in the room nodded their silent agreement. The elder was a silver-haired woman, due to regenerate anyday, with a stern expression and a rigid posture that masked a new caring, generous persona. She had changed much since her days leading the trial against the Doctor. Now she was a firm, strong leader of her people. For however long her reign might last. The other was a younger woman, dark haired, in her early forties or so (if she was human). A simple, somewhat old-fashioned dress wrapped itself around her, as she carried herself forward confidently, meeting the gaze of all those present without fear or hesitation.

Susan, the granddaughter of the Doctor, and one of the last surviving members of his family. She'd been called back to impart her knowledge about fighting the Daleks due to her experiences battling them on Skaro and Earth. But now she stared equally helpless at the view screen, listened in horror as the screams and dalek fire cut across the intercom.

"Is there nothing more we can do?" she asked finally, unable to bear it.

Romana shook her head. "We have to hold them off long enough to let the Doctor complete his preparations. If he doesn't… then we've lost."

A shudder rocked the room, and the Lady President turned wide eyes to the doorway as dull thumps and thuds could be heard outside. Daleks. They'd been discovered.

"By Rassilon," she breathed.

A hand grabbed her arm none-too-gently. "This way, Lady President," said Romana, ever-prepared. Quickly the three woman made their way to the service hatch, a spare exit out of the room that had been prepared for this sort of emergency in mind. It was not very dignified, and it was certainly not very easy for the much-out-of-shape President, but it would do. Susan led the way, with Romana bringing up the rear and sealing the hatch with her sonic screwdriver. Not a moment too soon, from the sounds below. The Daleks had broken in. But for all their impressive skills, the Daleks could not master stairs or ladders, and so they were reasonably safe.

For now.

"Susan," instructed Romana. "Go find the Doctor, offer what help you can. If nothing else he may need someone to pass him his tools, and we need every second now. Lady President, I suggest you come with me."

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"We will hide within the Matrix. Even the Daleks cannot penetrate that easily."

"It may yet be our only option… lead the way, Romana."

"Wait… good luck," Susan stated bravely, before turning down another tunnel and crawling forward as quickly as she was able. Romana nodded, and she and the Lady President made their own ascent up another ladder. The way would no doubt be clogged with Daleks, but if they were lucky, they might be able to bypass the worst of the fighting and reach the Matrix without trouble.

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The Doctor had only just finished, given a wide smile as he realized his device (for lack of a better term) was ready. Hooked up to the Eye of Harmony with the Key (courtesy of the Lady President) and rigged up to completely self-detonate the moment a single lever (resting by his arm) was pulled. With one stroke, the Time War could be ended.

An explosion rocked the Panoptican. Not a moment too soon, he realized.

With the doors and his last defense gone, a line of Daleks filed in, slowly and methodically forming a semi-circle, all weapons trained on the Doctor. He should've felt flattered, and one of his earlier incarnations might've made a quip, but he was much too sickened by bloodshed now. If the Daleks had gotten this far, it meant that virtually everyone was dead by now. Or would be soon. His friends, his family. The Lady President, Romana, Susan, Drax, Leela, Andred. And so many others. None of the Daleks attacked, perhaps recognizing his device for what it was. Perhaps they had orders not to slay him. Perhaps they did not deem him a threat (unlikely). In any case, it gave him a moment to compose himself, and one last opportunity to end the Time War without further destruction.

"I address the Emperor of the Daleks," he stated, feeling considerably more bravado than he felt. Having four Dalek weapons trained on him could do that to even the most stubborn person, after all. But he had to do this.

To his relief, an image materialized into existence above the Daleks, a holo-image appearing against the wall like a viewscreen, showcasing the Dalek Emperor in all his terrible glory. "I HEAR YOU DOCTOR. SPEAK," he commanded, his voice echoing throughout the panoptican.

Very careful to keep from moving too far from the lever, the Doctor licked his lips and spoke, choosing his words with the utmost care. "You know what I've done. So I'm asking to surrender, and leave. Leave Gallifrey, leave its people alone. I... I cannot let you interfere with the web of time anymore than you already have. So leave now. And I will spare you."

To his surprise, and more than a little horror, the Dalek Emperor did not even appear to consider his proposal. He _laughed_ instead. "INCORRECT. WITH A SINGLE WORD I CAN END YOUR EXISTENCE. AND THE DALEK RACE WILL BECOME MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE."

"I throw this switch and the Daleks will be masters of nothing!" the Doctor replied. "Everything will be destroyed!"

"INCLUDING YOUR PRECIOUS GALLIFREY."

The Doctor swallowed, trying unsuccessfully to appear unruffled by the Emperor's comment. "Yes," he managed to say, in a ghost of a whisper.

"YOU ARE SOFT, DOCTOR. LIKE ALL TIME LORDS! THE DALEKS ARE SUPERIOR! WE ARE MEANT TO RULE THE UNIVERSE!"

He's insane, realized the Doctor. He believes it so deeply he's willing to risk the existence of that universe for the chance to rule it. He has no idea of the damage he could do to everything he gained the sort of power he wanted. The Eye of Harmony pulsated behind him, leaking out more shimmering golden energy. Energy the Emperor craved. The power of the Time Lords.

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... he -was- right! It did pay to be a genius after all, he thought with a grin.

The TARDIS ships had all been sent out as an advance wave against the Daleks, and thus, none were in dry-dock. But one of the SIDRAT machines the War Chief had tried to manufacture was still there. It should've been good for at least one more trip, if he was lucky. Quickly he slapped his palm on the console and bid the door open, then slipped inside and shut it. His hands scrambled over the controls as he prepared to launch himself as far into the future as he possibly could, past the limits of the Time Lords, past the limits of knowledge. No one would seek him out there. He hoped.

No, he realized. It wouldn't be enough. They'd track him. They'd hunt down the last of the time lords.

Angrily the Master racked his hands through his short white hair, thinking. Thinking. There had to be a way to survive. He survived worse than this. He'd survived falling into the Eye of Harmony (twice!), an exploding planet, a collapsing Castrovalva, even being exterminated. He was not going to die. He was going to survive!

As he paced angrily about the shaking SIDRAT, hoping it wouldn't shake apart in his trip, his eye caught hold of something, and he turned his head. It was one of those cameleon arches, the sort used by Time Lords to not only masquerade as alien races, but -become- alien races. The perfect disguise. No one would be able to find him then. And what luck! He ran his hand over the front of it. A fob watch was already in place, waiting to be used.

The Master grinned, and a wicked chuckle escaped his lips. He always found a way to survive.

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"I... I can't..."

"Grandfather!!"

Dalek and Gallifreyan eyes snapped in the same direction at the same moment as Susan ran in, covered in dust and grit and sweat, her hair disheveled from the battle. "Grandfather you can't!!"

"Susan no!"

"EX-TER-MIN-ATE!"

"NO!"

"No!"

Susan had just reached the stairs of the Panoptican as one of the Daleks opened fire. No doubt they had been itching for an excuse to kill the moment they'd entered the room, and only the Emperors orders had stopped them from prematurely opening fire on the Doctor. But he hadn't acted quickly enough to stop them from firing on Susan. A blast of cerulean energy hit her full in the back, and she gave a scream that would haunt the Doctor throughout the rest of his regenerations. She stiffened, then fell forward, right into the Doctor's arms. The impact knocked him off his feet, and his left arm flailed wildly to catch his balance, even as his right wrapped around his granddaughter to cushion her fall.

His left arm... the sleeve of his coat... hooked onto the lever, and unable to stop his fall, he pulled it down sharply along with himself and Susan.

"No!" he shouted once more. But it was too late.

His jury-rigging hummed to life as the great dynamos began to whirl and spin with life, and yet more brilliant golden energy poured out of the open eye as his machine climbed towards critical mass. It wouldn't take more than a few minutes now.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE, DOCTOR?!" roared the Emperor, his voice vibrating off of the halls of the Panoptican.

With surprising calmness, the Doctor pushed himself to his knees, running a hand along Susan's cold cheek. "What had to be done," he said.

"NO!"

"EXTERMINATE HIM!"

"EX-TER-MIN-ATE!!"

Before the Dalek squad could open fire, the machine activated, and the Eye of Harmony winked.

A backlash of timefire, brilliant golden flames, burst from the center of the eye and washed over Gallifrey. The impact sent Daleks smashing into the far walls and flung the Doctor aside, screaming in agony as his skin blistered. Nor was this the worst of it. The Citadel shuddered, indeed the whole planet was wracked by earthquakes as the foundation began to splinter. The waves would intensify until all of Gallifrey and much of the solar system was obliterated from time and space alike. No Daleks would escape. No Time Lords would escape. Not even him. Not this time. Despite the pain, the Doctor lowered his head and closed his eyes, waiting for the end to come. There was no escape for him. Not this time.

The Dalek Emperor continued to roar in the background, as did the few Daleks scattered about the Citadel and over Gallifrey. All over, people felt the shake of the ground and were engulfed by the timeflames. Screams could be heard all over the Citadel as surviving Gallifreyans were blasted to pieces or engulfed in fire, cursing the Daleks, cursing the Doctor, cursing the universe.

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High above the Panopticon, in the Cruciform, the Dalek Emperor howled in defiance, initiating its escape transmit and rematerializing onboard its flagship, which had remained high above the orange world of Gallifrey. "ACTIVATE TIME CORRIDOR!" he instructed. "RELEASE SAFETIES! REMOVE THE SHIP FROM GALLIFREY TIME ZONE!"

"UNABLE TO COMPLY!" shrieked one of its subordinates. "TIMEFLAME ENERGY TOO INTENSE!"

"INCREASE POWER!" he replied, even as the ship shook from a wave of timefire that washed over its golden surface. They wouldn't survive the next one, he knew. As it was, the entire ship distorted for a brief moment before returning to normal.

"UN-UN-UNABLE TO COMPLY!"

"CULT OF SKARO FAILURE TO REPORT IN!" added one of its colleagues on the bridge.

"ENERGY INCREASING! DANGER LEVELS RISING!"

"IN-CREASE PO-WER!!" roared the Emperor. "WE MUST OPEN THE TIME CORRIDOR BEFORE-!"

To the Dalek Emperor, it seemed as if a thousand suns had been somehow placed simultaneously into the center of Gallifrey, and then simultaneously detonated. The light was so intense he was momentarily blinded, but the impact was far worse. The ship spun completely out of control as waves of temporal energy crashed headlong into it. He howled in rage as he and his entire Dalek fleet were wiped out, seemingly in an instant, by the Oncoming Storm.

"DOCTOOOOOOOR!" he roared, as the ship vanished into the timeflames.

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Another blast of energy rocked the Citadel of the Time Lords, and the Doctor was flung from spot through the air and down into one of the cracks that had broken open in the floor. He'd long since lost consciousness. His body fell... fell... fell...

... and with a painful thump, he landed. Not in a bloody mess, as would've been expected at a fall from such a height, but barely hard enough to shake him awake.

"Wha-?"

A creak, and a slam. His head shot up, just in time to watch the doors of the TARDIS slam shut beyond his feet. _His_ TARDIS. But how? And then his head twisted quickly as a dry wheezing noise filled the air, and he saw the column in the center of console begin to move up and down, glowing. "Wait... no..." he managed to gasp out, his voice gone. Weakly, he stretched out a hand, burnt and blackened. "... stop..." and then he collapses unconscious a second time.

The TARDIS ignored him (it usually did) even as it continued to fly through the Vortex and away from Gallifrey and the destruction behind it. It sensed the Doctors life growing cold, and as always it reached out to aid him, engulfing him in its own essence. The two were linked more closely than most Time Lords and their own time machines. And it did what it could to aid the Doctor now. But it sensed this new regeneration would be a rocky one.

A bright golden glow began to wash over the Doctor's features. And those same features began to change.

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At the very edge of the Universe, beyond the year fifty trillion, a great green box materialized, and a door slid open. A young man, white-haired and naked, stumbled out, collapsing at once onto the coastline of the planet. On a beach beside the sea. A sea that had long since dried up and gone out, leaving barren silver rocks in its wake. He lay there, unconscious, with nothing more than a small fob watch in his hand. As he lay there, the door of the machine slid closed, preprogrammed to engage into flight as soon as he was out.

With a whirling, wheezing groan, it began to vanish, de-materializing back out of time and space and back into the void. It then hurled itself in the opposite direction, even as the stress of the void began to tear it to pieces. But even if it survived its journey, it would not survive its destination. Event one.

And thus, there would be no evidence. No way to trace his escape. He was safe. Lying naked on a deserted, empty beach on a planet at the end of the universe, with nothing more than a fobwatch and no memories of his past, he was safe.

Who was he? He didn't remember. But he would, some day. And when he did, the entire universe would tremble.

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Consciousness returned slowly, and senses returned one by one. Slowly, the Doctor opened his eyes. His head hurt abysmally, like someone had taken a sledgehammer to his skull, shattering it to pieces, then re-arranged them back into his head with only a minimal understanding of humanoid anatomy. Groaning, he pushed himself to a sitting position, rubbing his hea…

… hang on a minute, what happened to his hair?

Then an in-rush of memories. Susan. The Daleks. The Eye of Harmony.

Eyes wide in horror, the Doctor sprang to his feet, nearly tripping over his unusually long legs as he stumbled towards the console, fingers scrambling mad over controls, flicking switches and pulling leverss and pushing buttons. His left hand yanked down the nearby monitor to get a better view of what lay outside of the TARDIS, and he gasped.

"Nooo… it can't be."

Gallifrey. Or rather, what was once Gallifrey. Apart from the flicker of timefire still present in the void of space, nothing lay outside of the TARDIS except rocks and dust. The entire planet had been completely destroyed. So had the entire Dalek fleet in orbit, as well as much of the solar system he could see. Karn survived, he noted dimly, but it had been thrown off its orbit slightly by the sheer force of the explosion.

It was all gone. Gallifrey. The Time Lords. The Citadel. His friends. His family. All gone. All dust.

"No…" he whispered, more firmly, then suddenly "NO!"

His hands worked frantically against the controls. "Take me back!" he shouted, half to himself, half to the TARDIS. "Take me back! I have to stop it!" He pulled hard on a lever, rotating a dial, then a second beside it. "Take me back!!" he roared, tears streaming down his cheeks. The TARDIS refused to comply. Angrily, he pounded on the console. "I said take me back! Take me back! Take me back!!" he kept repeating, slamming his fists against the controls until he was in danger of breaking something, sinking down to his knees, crying like a child. The TARDIS refused to go.

And he knew why. If he'd allowed himself a moment to look at the moment logically, he would have done the same.

The Time War was over.

"Everyone lost," he said bitterly.

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On Earth, on the Ascension Islands in the early sixties, some say a meteor fell from the skies, a bright golden streak. An ill omen, some said. And they could not have been more right. When it crashed, it was not rocks that had fallen to Earth, but a monster. A creature of hatred wrapped in dull, broken bronze armor, still hot to the touch from time flames touch. It would be days before it could be cool enough for anyone to get near.

But all that time, it would be screaming.

"EX-TER-MIN-ATE! EX-TER-MIN-ATE! EX-TER-MIN-ATE!!"

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The impact of the Time War rippled throughout time and space from the beginning to the end, from edge to edge. Not a single part of it was left unchanged by the sacrifice of the Time Lord people and the destruction of the Daleks. Whole civilizations were wiped out, whole races destroyed. New ones arose in their places, or empty howling was left to fill the void, and only one would even remember they existed.

Sighing heavily as he adjusted his old-fashioned jacket (a bit tight, he might have to change it soon), the Doctor took one last look at the screen at the asteroid field where Gallifrey had once been and shut the screen off, then gave a tug of one of the levers of the TARDIS, swiveling a few knobs and pushing a few buttons. There was only one other home for him to go back to now. He may as well start there.

Planet Earth.

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**Author's Notes: **

It was originally planned I would stretch this story out a great deal longer, including a trip of Susan into the Matrix for answers (and a run in with the Valeyard), many long chapters of preparations and manipulations, as well as the revelation that the War Chief had betrayed them to the Daleks, not the Master. But I decided to cut my losses and bring it to a close as it is.

I purposefully left a lot of Time Lords fates up in the air because I'm still hoping some of them might have survived (somehow) to the new series.


End file.
